General FAQs

1. Why are parks important?
2. Who looks after parks?
3. Do local authorities have to provide parks and keep them in good condition?
4. What is a friends group?
5. What do friends groups do?
6. Why do friends groups form?
7. How can I join a friends group?
8. Why do some parks not have a friends group?
9. Who is the Heritage Lottery Fund and what is their involvement within parks?
10. Who are GreenSpace and what do they do?

Find out a little more about Park It!

Why are parks important?
Parks improve the quality of life of people living in urban, and rural, environments. They provide habitats for wildlife, places to play sport in, have a walk or relax in and escape from the busy urban environment. Accessible and free to use to everyone, they provide major health benefits to users, reducing obesity through exercise or tackling stress and addressing mental health.

In environmental terms, they also reduce pollution, reduce the risk of flooding locally and reduce the heating affect of cities. Quite simply, living in a city or town without any parks would be a far less pleasurable experience. In order to provide these services to people and wildlife, parks and green spaces need to be maintained to a standard in which people will feel safe and able to enjoy themselves. Friends groups perform a vital role working in partnership with local authorities to maintain and improve these sites.

Who looks after and maintains parks?
In the vast majority of cases, it is the local authority that owns and manages the park. Often they do not actually carry out the maintenance themselves, but contract work such as mowing grass and collecting litter to private business and horticultural contractors. These organisations are paid by the local authority and responsible to them.

Do local authorities have to provide parks and keep them in good condition?
No. Local authorities provide a wide variety of services to their local communities. They are divided into statutory services (including education and social services) which they have to provide, and non-statutory services, which they do not have to provide by law. Parks are a non statutory service, which means that legally, local authorities do not have to provide them or invest a minimum amount of money in them. This has meant that many of the departments in local authorities who look after parks have had their budgets cut over the years and the condition of many parks has subsequently suffered.

What is a Friends group?
Friends groups are voluntary, community-based organisations who represent the interests of a park or green space. They are made up of residents, local authority staff, people from shops and local businesses and anyone else who has an interest in the park or green space. Membership can range from a few individuals to several hundred, although the number of people who are regularly active is often smaller. Generally, members are drawn from the local area. In some cases however, Friends groups have members from further a-field and it is not unknown for some members to be from different countries.

What do Friends groups do?
No two Friends groups are the same and they carry out a wide range of tasks. These can include collecting litter, applying for funding to develop a new playground, lobbying to save an area of green space from development as housing or leisure complexes or giving their opinion on a new parks strategy being developed by their local authority. They will range from being very hands-on, carrying out practical work tasks, to more strategic, desk-based and research work. Some members will inevitably be more active than others, who may just want to show their support for their park rather than getting practically involved. Research by GreenSpace shows that there are approximately 4,000 groups working across the whole of the UK. Together they spend over 500,000 hours a year volunteering in their parks and green spaces.

Why do Friends groups form?
Friends groups form for a wide variety of reasons, but it is basically because local people have a common concern for their park or green space. Sometimes the local authority may decide that it wants to do more consultation with the community and will approach residents, asking them if they would like to form a group. But often the initiative comes from the residents themselves who will approach their local authority. Reasons can include wanting to have a say in the management of a park, deciding to defend it from development or lobbying the local authority to improve the condition of the park.

Can I join a Friends group?
Yes. Generally, anyone can join a local Friends group - all you need to have is an interest in your local park. You should ask your local council which groups they know of and they should be able to provide contact details. Membership of Friends groups is often free, but some will charge a nominal annual or one-off sum to help fund their activities. You should make contact with the group and find out how you can join and become more active.

Why do some parks not have Friends groups?
It all depends on the level of interest in the park amongst local residents as well as the degree to which people feel ownership over the park. This level of interest is influenced by a range of factors including the individual people in the area, the condition of the park and whether it is under threat. Friends groups rely on volunteers from the area, who have other social commitments and often full time jobs. It also depends on the type of area around the park. For example, town centre parks may sometimes not have a Friends group as the surrounding properties tend to be commercial rather than residential.

Who are the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and what is their involvement with parks?
The Heritage Lottery Fund distributes a share of the money raised by the National Lottery for Good Causes through a variety of heritage-focused grant-giving programmes. Since 1994 it has awarded £3 billion to more than 15,000 projects across the UK.

In 1997 the Heritage Lottery Fund launched the Urban Parks Programme which later changed its name to the Public Parks Initiative (PPI). This is a major funding programme which finances the regeneration of public parks, squares and gardens across the UK. It invests sums of money from £50,000 to several million pounds to regenerate and restore historic green spaces which have slipped into decline. The PPI is still running and to date has invested over £350 million in 250 different sites across the country. .

Who are GreenSpace and what do they do?
GreenSpace is a not-for-profit organisation set up to help those committed to the planning, design, management and use of public parks and open spaces.

GreenSpace supports and helps all those who work with parks and green spaces, including community groups, local authorities and landscape architects. GreenSpace’s vision is to create a network of easily accessible, safe, attractive and welcoming parks, gardens and green spaces which meet the needs of everyone and which contribute to the economic, social and environmental well-being of people and places, now and for future generations.

GreenSpace provides advice, guidance and a signposting service through publications, conferences, newsletters and a comprehensive website. GreenSpace also runs several major projects to support people who work in the sector and to raise awareness of parks. The project Park It! is a major new programme run by GreenSpace and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. To find out more about the project and its aims, please click here.

To find out more about GreenSpace visit www.green-space.org.uk or call 0118 946 9060.